The Centre for Teaching & LearningInfinite Possibilities...

TIP SHEET:

The Do’s and Don’ts of Building TestsConsider the purpose of your test:• Whatareyoumeasuring?

• Istestingthemostappropriatemeasureofstudentlearning?

• Ifso,whatleveloflearningareyoutesting?

What Types Of Tests Are There?• MultipleChoice,True/False,Matchingobjectivetesting–studentschoosefrom

alternativesprovided.

• Fill-in-the-Blank,Short-Answer,Essaysubjectivetesting-studentsprovidetheanswersthemselves.

How Do I Build An Effective Test?• Writeoriginaltestquestionsratherthanusingtext-providedtestbanks–thiswayyoucan

incorporateyourstandardsandvocabulary.Overtime,createatestbankofyourquestionstodrawfrom(seebelow).

• Makeuptestquestionsthroughouttheterm.

• Askstudentstosubmittestquestions.

• Prepareclearinstructions.

• Includeafewwordsofadviceandencouragementonthetest.

• Putsomeeasyquestionsfirst.

• Challengeyourbeststudentswithoneortwotoughquestionsforextramarks.

• Givethoughttothelayoutandtimingofthetest(seebelow).

What Type Of Questions Should I Use?• Objectivequestionsaretypicallygoodchoicesforassessinghighercognitivelevelssuchas

analysis,synthesisorevaluation.

• Multiple-choicequestions...

○ Aredifficultandtimeconsumingtoconstruct.

○ Leadaninstructortofavoursimplerecalloffacts.

○ Placeahighdegreeofdependenceonthestudent’sreadingabilityandinstructor’swritingability.

○ Subjectivequestionsallowassessmentofarangeofcognitivelevels.

How Do I Write An Effective Multiple-Choice Question?• Stem:

○ Whenpossible,statethestemasadirectquestionratherthanasanincompletestatement.

○ Presentadefinite,explicitandsingularquestionorproblem.

○ Eliminateexcessiveverbiageorirrelevantinformation.

○ Includeanyword(s)thatmightotherwiseberepeatedineachalternative.

○ Usenegativelystatedstemssparingly.Whenused,underlineand/orcapitalizethenegativeword.

Testingpromotessurfacelearning information

storedinshort-termmemorywill last less than 2 weeks!

Testing is stressful students use a portion of their brain just worrying

about the test!

Subjective questions allow testing of a range of

Cognitive Levels

What is daily minimumrequiredamountofmilka10year old should drink?

a.1glassb. 2 glassesc. 3 glassesd. 4 glasses

Stem

ResponseAlternative

The Centre for Teaching & LearningInfinite Possibilities...

The Do’s and Don’ts of Building Tests• ResponseAlternatives:

○ Makeallalternativesplausibleandattractivetothelessknowledgeablestudent.

○ Makethealternativesgrammaticallyparallelwitheachother,andconsistentwiththestem.

○ Makethealternativesmutuallyexclusive.

○ Makealternativesapproximatelyequalinlength.

○ Useatleastfouralternativesforeachquestiontolowertheprobabilityofgettingthequestioncorrectbyguessing.

○ Havethesameproportionofalternativesa,b,c,dandeastherightanswer.

○ Use“noneoftheabove”and“alloftheabove”sparingly.Whenused,theyshouldoccasionallybethecorrectresponse.

How Should I Lay Out My Test?• Usemarginsandlinespacingthatmakethetesteasytoread.

• Onthefirstpage,notethetotalnumberofmarksforthetest.

• Ifitemsareworthdifferentnumbersofpoints,indicatethepointvaluenexttoeachitem.

• Groupsimilartypesofitems,suchasalltrue-falsequestions,together.

• Keepinmindthattheamountofspaceyouleaveforshort-answerquestionsoftensignifiestothestudentsthelengthoftheanswerexpectedofthem.

• Ifstudentsaretowriteontheexam,leavespaceatthetopofeachpageforthestudent’sname(andsection,ifappropriate).Ifeachpageisidentified,theexamscanbeseparatedsoyoucanmarkeachquestionseparately.

• Numberthepagesusingthe“Page1of5”stylesostudentscaneasilyseeifapageismissingfromtheirtest.

• Includesuggestedtimingsforeachsectionofthetest.

How Do I Calculate How Long My Test Will Take To Write?• Factorintimetodistributeandcollectthetests.

• Allow:

○ One-halfminuteperitemfortrue-false.

○ Oneminuteperitemformultiple-choice.Allowupto2minutesifthereisalotofreadingorthequestioniscomplex.

○ Twominutespershort-answerrequiringafewsentences.

○ Tenorfifteenminutesforalimitedessayquestion.

○ Thirtyminutesforabroaderessayquestion.

○ Anotherfiveortenminutesforstudentstoreviewtheirwork.

Resources:• Blackboard’sAssessmentTool• TestGenToolfromPearson(needsaPearsonLogin):

http://wpslive.pearsoncmg.com/wps/media/access/Pearson_Default/8722/8931911/testgen_login.html

Sources:• ImprovingYourTestQuestions,CenterforTeachingExcellence,UniversityofIllinois,http://cte.illinois.edu/testing/exam/test_ques.html• DifferentiationandtheBrain,DavidA.SousaandCarolAnnTomlinson,2011,SolutionTreePress• BalancedAssessment,KayBurke,2010,SolutionTreePress• Quizzes,TestsandExams,HonoluluCommunityCollege,http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/quizzes.htm

Test only what’s been taught no surprises!

Don’t include “trick” questions

40–50multiple-choicequestions for a

50minuteperiod